14 PETER HENDERSON. 



was afterwards of great benefit to him as a horticultural 

 writer. 



The above incident shows, that George Sterling dis- 

 covered in his young apprentice a bright pupil and 

 secretly was very proud of him, yet delighted to find fault 

 and Squeers-like teach him practical lessons. Thus on 

 several occasions he had to lecture him on the d iff erence 

 between " dry " and " killing dry " as affecting plant life. 



It happened that Peter on more than one occasion had 

 allowed batches of plants in the greenhouse, to get into 

 the " killing dry " state, and finally one day after a more 

 henious offense than usual, Mr. Sterling took him by the 

 ear and marched him up, that he might see the results of 

 his inattention. This practical illustration was so suc- 

 cessful that the Nestor of American horticulture never 

 again forgot its meaning. 



We have stated that the gardening course at Melville 

 Castle covered four years, and it may not be uninterest- 

 ing to state the wages paid apprentices at that time. 

 The first year they received nine shillings a week, the 

 second ten shillings, the third eleven shillings, and the 

 fourth twelve shillings ; a shilling being equal to 25 

 cents of our American money. Out of these wages the 

 young men fed and clothed themselves, but were lodged 

 in a building connected with the greenhouses and known 

 as the " Bothy." Life in the " Bothy " was free and 

 easy, and, on the whole rather comfortable. Each ap- 

 prentice took his turn a week at a time, to cook and do 

 the housework. 



The food was very plain, consisting morning and 

 evening of " halesome parritch (porridge) chief of Scotia's 

 food." The noon meal nearly always consisted of pota- 

 toes and milk, and skim milk at that. Once a week, on 

 Sundays, they indulged themselves in coffee and bread 

 and butter. 



During the four years they did not taste meat of any 

 kind on more than a dozen occasions, and yet Mr. Hen- 

 derson has repeatedly stated that not a single man lost 

 a day by sickness in all that time. 



